well fed devils behave better than famished saints

— D.L. Smith

"I heard you're fighting with your family." Nami froze before she peered over her shoulder at the Lord Conqueror in the door of her office. He raised a brow at her lips thinning into a hard line.

"That's none of your business."

"It's not? Aren't they part of my family now to—?"

"Don't you say that!" She slapped her book onto the desk, some dry history book on wars, standing to face him. I need to get this stupid desk turned around! "They're my family, and you're trying to take them away from me! How could you!"

His head cocked. "I am?"

"You told them to get married to help your kingdom! You're trying to keep us apart!"

The Lord Conqueror frowned, and for the first time, Nami paused, blinking at that mien. Coal eyes chilled before her, sterner than she had anticipated. She licked her lips before she could stop herself, and he raised a brow.

When she didn't dare to look away, he said, "I told them that they could marry whoever they wanted. I didn't tell anyone to marry."

Except me. His smile returned, closing the distance, and she shivered as he leaned over her. Finally, she remembered the book she had been reading, but his eyes were only on hers. Those eyes that had frozen now roared with fire. She looked down and realized she had placed her hand on his chest, though somehow, she knew she wasn't pushing him away. He smiled so knowingly though, hand over hers.

"They are adults too."

She frowned at him, wondering if she should call him elderly, but sighed. "You don't have to remind me of that."

"Don't I?"

Nami winced. "You … you won't stop them from leaving though."

"I don't control people like that." He raised her hand to his, lips on her fingertip, and Nami glanced at the open door as a flush came over her face. They were alone after all.

"I was thinking about surprising you, but then I heard about this, so maybe I should ask instead."

She blinked, trying to focus on what he was saying again. That it was more difficult lately was not lost on her. Besides, wouldn't her family be happier here? Even if they married and left her. Nami didn't have to worry about them anymore.

Did she even need to protect them? It didn't sound like they wanted to be kept safe anyway.

"Surprise me with what?"

"Come to the orphanage with me."

Nami's jaw dropped. "The — we—" She didn't know what else to do, though her hand went to her stomach, shivering.

Luffy glanced at her hand before he cupped her cheeks. "Nami, don't you want a child?"

A rush of uncertainty flooded her head. Grabbing his hands, she wanted to tear them away, to pull him closer. But her eyes stung.

With a gasp, she turned her head away, willing herself to not blink before she tried to glare at him instead.

"You can't just spring children on me like this!"

"So you do want more than one."

"One is plenty!"

Which was how she found herself riding a carriage down the streets of the capital. When she glanced out the window, everyone stepped aside. Scowls even turned into smiles or ducked heads of chagrin when they noticed the emblem on the carriage. She saw one gentleman bow though no one had prodded him to do so. Nami bit at her thumb, eyes peering at the Lord Conqueror as he watched her watch the city.

"This really is sudden."

But he smiled, and Nami's shoulders relaxed. Her head dropped before she peeked out once more, mind reeling.

A child. A baby? Or — she couldn't imagine who or what awaited her at the orphanage. She had been too young to remember being orphaned. Nojiko sometimes said she remembered her parents, but she had been young too, and their village hadn't even had an orphanage. Nami had been lucky to have been found with her paperwork among her parent's belongings. As such, she didn't know what to expect about the condition the children would be in.

Her stomach raged and roiled. Life with him. With him and a child that they took in together. She didn't feel ready in the least. Was it that it was too soon, or did she know that the life would be a false? A short one.

After another glance at him, Nami sucked her lips in as the street ran under the carriage, sometimes stuttering over older patches of the city's cobblestone.

How could she decide this sort of thing anyway?

Wouldn't they all look sad? What kind of choice was she going to make? When the carriage halted, she peered at the little building. It had a sign on the door that said 'The Waifs and Strays' Asylum'. The Lord Conqueror offered his hand to her, and Nami almost thought about scowling, but with a glimpse at a window, she could see a child's eyes peek out. They wouldn't see a monster and a lady. They would see their god and his wife. And if his wife treated him wrong? What would she, the awful, mean lady, do to a child?

Nami smiled and took his hand.

Inside, an old man in a strange mask with a long nose greeted them. His clothes reminded her of a bathrobe, but they were too colorful and made of silk besides. When he bowed, it was straight on with his hands neatly to his sides and so low that Nami wondered if he could straighten again, but he did.

He said, "Our Lord Conqueror, it's an honor to receive yourself and your Lady Conqueror. Has your highest self come to donate in person?"

"That and more. Nami wants to adopt."

The man's eyes bulged through the mask before he bobbed and bowed so quickly that Nami worried he'd topple over from the nose alone, but he headed down the hall. "Of course, this way! This way! Children! To the foyer! Children!"

So she followed on Luffy's arm, peeking around through doors at the kids running for the room indicated. When she stopped with him in the foyer's door, another child ducked between the Lord Conqueror and her skirts to join the others. Nami checked his face, but the Lord Conqueror smiled.

Did he want one too?

Nami pressed a hand to her stomach to quell butterflies. All she needed to do was pick a child, but when the room filled to form a line for them, the old man fixing a boy's wild hair, Nami froze. Could she stop at one? The palace was huge after all. They could fit the entire orphanage inside and still have room.

Eventually though, she frowned.

The palace would swallow them all up. Would she have the time for each of them? She didn't even have the time for herself and her research anyway.

And if she killed her own husband?

She shivered.

Would the child hate her too?

"Ah, I see one is missing. Wait a while and treat his Exalted Godship with respect. This is the Lord and Lady Conqueror." As he walked away, she realized he hadn't promised them that they would adopt. Nami sucked her lips in, peering at curious faces. Hopeful. Awed.

One picked her nose.

Nami tried to smile again, but Luffy made it seem easy. When he kneeled on one knee, a hand extended to a little boy to shake his hand, Nami chewed her lip.

They were already responding to him. He had visited before at least if the proprietor knew him by sight. But wouldn't the entire capital know that? A grubby hand tugged her skirt, and Nami sighed, patting his head. They all looked so young and tiny. Was she ever this little?

"No!"

She jerked in surprise, gaping toward where the man had gone while he pulled along a little girl with dark violet hair. The moment she realized she had been spotted, the little girl scowled.

"I don't want to see him! He's a bad god! Bad! I hate him!"

The Lord Conqueror tilted his head while the old man sputtered in shock. "I told you that you must not—"

"You're the worst! Bleh!" When the little girl tried to stomp on the man's foot, Nami's eyes bulged before she stood upright.

And pointed.

"Her."

The old man's jaw unhinged as if it would pop off and roll on the floor. "Tama!?"

On the trip back, the Lord Conqueror had gazed at them both in bemusement. Tama in Nami's lap and glaring enough that even Nami had tried to temper the child, but she raged like a firestorm. At least, she had stopped screaming when the only reaction from the Lord Conqueror had been laughter. Nami thought for sure that laughter was for herself rather than their new stepdaughter, Tama, though. Unless, he saw the irony in taking in two ladies that hated him.

Once back at the palace, Tama had quieted entirely, her little face peeking out from Nami's shoulder with accusing glares at anyone that approached, including an exhausted looking Usopp. When she stuck her tongue out at him though, he thumbed his long nose. She giggled until she covered her mouth with wide eyes.

"She's easier to handle than you," Usopp said when the Lord Conqueror stepped aside to give orders to the servants.

A rush of running told Nami that the other servants would ready a room for Tama in no time.

Nami called after them, "Keep her room close to mine!" To Usopp, she sniffed. "Why, whatever are you talking about?"

Tama peeked at her, pouting, and Nami smiled until she said, "Are you a bad god too?"

"I'm not a god," Nami said with a sigh.

She looked at the Lord Conqueror before she eyed her again, unbelieving. "Huh."

When the Lord Conqueror returned to their side, Tama stiffened, her bottom lip sticking out in her fiercest pout of disapproval only to blush and hide her face when he chuckled. "She's as cute as you, Nami."

Nami wasn't quite sure, but she supposed that meant she had picked her own daughter correctly. If such a choice was possible.

"She doesn't look like me," Tama mumbled.

"I don't look like my mother and sister either," Nami said, stroking her hair, brushed back in a bun of some sort that she didn't recognize. Her little dress only reached her knees though it float enough to appear bell-shaped like Nami's own gown. Little girls — even poorer ones — could get away with larger skirts until the fabrics grew too expensive for more. Nami thought of her own dress before she had come here.

Where was it?

Except, she knew no one here would re-use that older fabric like she and her family might. When she and Nojiko had grown too fast, Bellemere reused every scrap she could for Nami as she was the youngest. Here though, the Lord Conqueror's seamsters would make sure to clothe Tama in the finest a little girl could ever wish for. She wondered where the scraps would go.

As she thought that, she wondered if she could make sure that Tama wasn't spoiled by her life in the palace.

She almost missed a step as she went inside with the Lord Conqueror.

Her life?

The moment Nami killed him, they would have no life here. If they ever found out that she had killed their god, they would tear her apart. Her grip tightened on Tama before she could relax, though she hadn't complained. Nami would have to ensure that the murder would not lead to her.

Should she frame it on someone?

Nami threw that out of her head on the instant. So long as she could keep the fingers from pointing at herself, she would be fine.

Tama peeked at her again, tearing wide eyes from her surroundings, and Nami tried to pay attention to her. I don't even know how I'll kill him. I still haven't found anything, and nothing else has even come close to … whatever he is.

Not a god.

Was he even human?

"What's gonna happen to me?"

Nami blinked, focusing again. "Well, we're going to see your new room for now. What else would you like to do? We'll have supper before bed, and we'll see what kind of stories they have you might like."

If anything suitable for a child could be found in that mess. She smiled when Tama's eyes widened in interest at the last bit. Nami tilted her head while she seemed to consider before she said, "I want to play hide and seek."

"And get lost in the palace forever?" Nami put on mock worry.

Tama gaped in stunned belief. "I'll get lost!?"

"I sometimes get lost still." That was accurate enough. Besides, she also wasn't about to play 'find the skinny little meter tall girl' around the palace grounds. 'Monster' might be more acceptable outside with some athletic gown for sports. "It's getting dark soon. We can run around more tomorrow though. Maybe in the garden?"

Tama pouted, but nodded. "I guess so."

She blinked and glanced at Luffy when she realized he had been quiet, only to find him watching them. His eyes warmed when she met them, and Nami blushed as he reached for her cheek, finger running across her reddening skin.

Quick as a flash, Tama smacked his hand away, and Nami gaped before she laughed. "Tama, it's all right!"

"I hate you!"

The Lord Conqueror chuckled though, his eyes on Nami. "I don't hate you."

"Yes, you do!"

Nami pursed her lips, keeping eyes carefully away from his smiling lips — why look at her? — before they reached a set of doors. Only down the hall from her apartments, Nami was surprised by the splendor within as the Lord Conqueror opened the doors for them. Tama's mouth shut with a sullen line, but her eyes searched the decadent foyer like it might come out and swallow her alive.

I should've known a room this close would be too nice. Nearly too nice to touch if Nami guessed. How could that be a child's room? A glance around only told her that the servants must have removed anything Tama could have knocked over and smashed. From plush cushions and pillows to the gilded frames of paintings of the capital, everything else had remained. So long as Tama couldn't reach it — or it wouldn't be a loss.

Sighing, Nami shook her head. "This? Really?"

"You wanted her close," Luffy said.

"You'd think they could tone it down at least." Nami set Tama on her own feet, but she clung to Nami's skirt with a scowl for everything.

The Lord Conqueror shrugged. "A room's a room, isn't it?"

She sniffed at that. When she turned back to Tama, she stared at Nami with widening eyes as if something was dawning upon her.

Smiling, Nami patted her head. "There now. Let's find you a nice book."

Tama's pout softened, and she had to trot after Nami as she headed for the door. There, Nami offered her hand, but Tama fidgeted with a frown before she peeked at the Lord Conqueror from around Nami's huge skirt.

For a wonder, he shook his head and said, "I'll see you tonight, Nami." Her face warmed as he went to her opposite side to press a chaste kiss to her cheek, but he whispered, "Come to my chambers."

Leaving her to gape after him, too flustered to look back at Tama's confused face.

Evening had crawled to night, and Tama yawned in her new bed, frowning when Nami tucked her in.

"So I'm gonna live here forever?" She didn't seem to like the idea of that, face wrinkling into a point until Nami smiled.

"Maybe. You might marry and live far away when you're older." Or if we have to run.

"I'm not gonna marry! I'm gonna be an assassin!"

Nami blinked before she patted her head. "That's a great idea."

Tama gaped after her as she rose. She blurted out when Nami reached the door, "Are you a …?" But she paused once Nami turned back with a tilted head.

"What is it?"

She shook her head hard and pulled her covers over her head. For a moment, Nami wondered if she should have gone to Bellemere for advice first, but recalled the fight instead. Some mother she was turning out to be. Nami fiddled with her skirt before she straightened and came back to the side of the bed. Tama peeked out, staring with such wide eyes. Dark like his if deep violet instead of black.

For a moment, she gazed into those wide eyes, and a thought brushed across her. Wondering. What would his child look like?

But Nami stroked Tama's hair back from a frightened face and smiled. "Good night, Tama. Sleep tight."

Her answer was a nod, but Nami would accept that.

In the halls, Nami tried not to hurry. She wasn't going to his chambers anyway. They wouldn't have a baby anyway. They had their daughter — her scared little girl. Nami paused in the hall, frowning as she wondered if she should bring Tama with her. That room was so huge after all, and Tama was so tiny.

Something — a curtain? — fluttered behind her, and Nami glanced back, but all was still.

Was it a sign? Would Tama even want her comfort? She seemed half-afraid of Nami herself most of the time as well as the Lord Conqueror.

She might need space too. Nami could remember how angry she had been and still was most days. Tama might be just as frustrated. The smaller the packages, the more that those emotions seemed to bottle and steam inside before they exploded onto everyone else around them. Tama will be fine for now. I just need to focus on …

Nami bit her lip.

Her research was going nowhere. What was the point anyway? Killing a god was near impossible, and what of that note and the missing book? What had it been called? Her face pinched in her concentration to dredge the memory.

Primitive … Peoples? Beliefs? Something about brothers …

And if she asked the librarian directly for such a book, would the message get to the Lord Conqueror? Nami almost missed her own door, staring at his before she shook her head with a quiver. He had caught her once. Back then, she had almost decided this life would be fine. She had thought that perhaps, it was just providence. An act of a god? Until she had felt those fangs glide over her throat.

She checked herself, growing darker when she realized how anyone passing might see her. The Lady Conqueror, the blushing bride still after how many weeks?

Ducking into her foyer, Nami glanced about, but he wouldn't have come here first. They both knew she wouldn't come. Why would he bother to tell her to? After so long, he just thought she would crawl onto his lap again after that disaster in the bath chamber? How in control was she really when it involved him?

Nami set to work with her gown though, tossing the pieces aside for Conis. She didn't glance at the closet where her veil from the wedding night still hung.

Once she had crawled into bed, fidgeting in her warm chemise, Nami pulled the cover to her chin before she had to laugh at herself. Was she just another little girl hiding under the sheets and blankets from the monsters she thought lurked there? But this one was real.

"I love you."

She cringed, eyes shut tight when the door creaked open. As he climbed in from the bottom of the bed, Nami gaped. He grasped an ankle to kiss up her calf, and Nami squirmed with a flush.

"Mm … my lor—" Nami stuffed her knuckle into her mouth, groaning as she turned onto her side to face away from him. His lips tickled the back of her knee though before his face slipped in under her chemise skirt.

Luffy kissed her inner thigh.

And she cursed, "Luffy!"

His tongue glided higher, but Nami tried to keep her legs shut, panting while his tongue ventured deeper, forcing her wider for his head until he could lap at her moist labia. A deep hum against her entrance, and she trembled to his touch before his tongue thrust inside. Still on her side, Nami whimpered as she wondered how it looked. Under the covers, a monster had crawled into her bed to suck and delve into her deepest places, her leg lifted into the air to make a tent of her blankets.

He reached around to take her wrist and placed her hand on her breast before he returned to stroke her clitoris. Her eyes widened from the silent order.

Biting her lip, Nami found a hardened nipple easily, twisting and tugging herself while she twitched against his face. His thumb slicked juices over her clit, and Nami cried out, trembling and rocking for him.

"Luffy …"

The Lord Conqueror moaned, and Nami's hips jerked as her thighs pressed around his head. Knowing she wanted to keep him there. Nami burned as she took hold of her other nipple, rock-hard as his tongue twisted and lapped into her body. His favorite treat before he would sink his fangs into her throat. Nami tightened, nipples aching as she fiddled until she found the perfect sensation.

It shot through her, to where his tongue thrust deeper, and his fingers ran circles around her clit. With a hiss, choking on her groan, Nami writhed through her orgasm, sparks in her head while he moaned to her twitches. Her life. Could she stay? This was …

Luffy climbed along her back until his head popped out. His thigh shoved against the mess between her thighs, and Nami rubbed onto his leg, a heady desire to cum somehow while humping his thigh. Her pussy moistened the fabric between them, a delicious rise in her pleasure in the aftershock of what he had done to her.

She realized she was still playing with her teats when he moaned to her throat. "Is that what got you so excited?"

Nami whimpered as her clitoris rubbed on his thigh, and her hips quickened. "Cum … wanna …"

"What a wicked little woman. Don't you want to cum on my cock more?" As he opened his trousers behind her, Nami's hips jerked, wanting to stop for that too. To have him inside of her again.

His warm hand cupped her breast, her nipple wrung between her fingers while she panted.

She ached as his lips graced her skin, whispering to her, "You're going to taste so good."

Nami moaned, and his cock pushed into her from behind. Her pussy betrayed her, squeezing tighter and tighter while his length shoved inside. With a shudder, her body arched to thrust back, and Luffy grasped her hips, helping by slamming their hips together.

Her lips parted in awe, trembling as his lips wrapped around her throat, and his tongue laved in circles while her fingers still worked at her teats. When his fangs sank into her flesh, Nami writhed back, hissing.

And she remembered. This was the danger.

She could not stay when this meant life or death, but her body would not listen once more.

"Luffy!" She bucked her hips as her throat numbed to his fangs. Pulsing, hot, Nami wailed as she finally clutched at his hair instead. He tugged her closer, lifting her thigh higher until the door opened.

The Lord Conqueror stopped with a grunt, though his fangs didn't leave her throat. Nami blushed, but knew they were covered under the blankets, so she tried to peek over to see—

Her voice strangled.

"Tama!"

Luffy froze, and Nami shivered when he pulled out. Her entire body flared crimson, but she could close her legs again as he pulled his thigh back.

Everything crashed down as Nami situated her chemise while trying to hold her neck still. He grumbled from every move she made, but he allowed her to fix everything, and she thought she felt him do the same behind.

The little girl inched to the bed, peeking at her. "I can't sleep."

Nami licked her lips, blinking when a dizzy sensation passed over her. Patting the bed cover though, she said, "Do you want another story?"

Tama asked, "Can I sleep with you?"

"Uh, I—" she glanced at Luffy, but he only closed his eyes as he lapped over her skin, her flesh healing under the tip of his tongue. "Well, what … do you think?"

When he lifted his head more to pout at her, Tama paused in the middle of pulling herself onto the bed. She stared at the Lord Conqueror before she growled and planted her palm into his face. "Go away!"

"I was here first," he said with a grin.

This was apparently sufficient enough for Tama as she just curled in against Nami's front while Luffy chuckled into the back of her neck. With a long-suffering sigh, Nami tucked Tama under the top blanket in her arms while she eyed the man behind her, but he kissed her ear.

"I'll get your snack."

Nami blinked at that, she and Tama — who mostly glared — watching him roll to his feet to get the platter that must have waited in his room. She shifted when she realized he was shirtless, but Tama did not seem concerned in the slightest besides her young, dark look of admonishment.

Each tray had become more and more personalized. As if the chefs were figuring out her likes on the matter. So when he broke into the orange, peeling it for her, Nami stared.

Tama awed though. "I want one!"

When he paused, glancing at his hands, Nami wondered what he was considering, but he lifted the tray to offer something from it to Tama. She happily munched into an apple while Luffy relaxed and returned to peeling Nami's orange. Her thoughts ended when he pressed a slice of the orange to her lips, and she squinted at him while her cheeks reddened. Something clearly not orange in flavor on his fingers.

So he had made the right decision there in letting Tama pick her apple up on her own.

Crunching away, Tama sat against one of the huge pillows while Nami wrestled with the urge to bite his fingers before she took the slice with her teeth.

She averted her eyes while he poured her a glass of juice.

"You get to eat snacks in bed?"

Nami took the glass, sitting with Tama so she wouldn't spill. "When you're older … and only when you're with us."

Tama nodded immediately though she shot a glimpse at the Lord Conqueror who sat on the edge of the bed with a smile.

"Did that hurt?"

Nami's eyes bulged when Luffy touched the huge scar on his chest and chuckled. "It must've, but I don't remember."

Taking the next piece of orange slowly, trying not to draw attention to herself, Nami watched while Tama cocked her head side to side. "How'd you get it?"

Was it that easy? She glanced at Luffy only to huff when he smiled at her. "A long time ago. The World Eater tried to kill me by sending one of his generals."

At least, she finally got that answered. Nami pouted though, inspecting the huge X laying on his skin. In a way, she had known that he had been a man before. Wasn't that part of his doctrine?

"And that one?" Tama pointed at the bite on his neck and shoulders.

"A monster bit me."

Tama scooted closer, pointing at his shoulder. "And that one?"

"Another bite."

"That's a big mouth," she said.

"It was. I crushed it." The Lord Conqueror tilted at his waist to point at his side where Nami could see another similar mark. She didn't stare at the hard muscles under the scar. He was pointing it out after all. "He bit me here too."

Tama shivered, staring. "Did you almost die?"

"Mm, I think so?" He frowned over their heads as if seeing something or perhaps failing to see it because then he closed his eyes. "It's been a very long time. They wrote so much down, but not everything."

Nami's head jerked down as it swum abruptly, and she blinked as Luffy offered her a small spinach quiche. He cupped her hand as she took it. "It's fine. I'm just tired."

"Eat," he said, something firm in his voice as he squeezed her hand.

Brow furrowing, Nami bit into the quiche with a sigh, her eyes closing to savor the flavor. Roasted peppers added a little warmth. Something poked at her elbow, and she opened her eyes only to smile, wrapping her arm around Tama when she huddled closer to her. Tama yawned, and the Lord Conqueror came in from the other side so Nami could lay her head on his shoulder.

She did feel tired, and it was late enough, but Nami took sips of her juice, nibbling at her orange and the quiches until her eyes could no longer stay open. Nami's finger slipped around the glass as he took it from her. It clicked on the nightstand, and her head slumped on his chest.

Why couldn't he be …